All Forum Posts by: Mihir Bhimaraju

@Jackie Davison That's awesome! JVs are good. Just make sure you have a good business relationship as well. Maybe I could stay at your airbnb in Hawaii sometime!

@Jason Dubraski I'm guessing you can do airbnb since you're not in NY city.

1) Have deadbolts and locks on individual rooms you're planning to rent out. If you have multiple rooms to rent, this will come in handy. I personally rent out private rooms.

2) Having a camera in the common area and entrance of the house. This helps to an extent. We obviously can't have a camera in the guest bedroom. :)

3) I personally don't have any insanely expensive items. My TV would be my most expensive item. I'll definitely know if they took it away lol. Besides, Airbnb offers insurance for any damages and it's sufficient to cover most of the damages.  You can also get an umbrella insurance for your peace of mind.

4) I keep our bedroom locked when we're not around. Our belongings stay locked in there.

5) You can let guests with prior reviews book instantly- you know other hosts verified them so that's a little relief. For guests with no reviews, ask them to upload their govt. ID. THis will atleast ensure there's a record of them on file.

Hope this helps.

@Corey Staples Thank you! It's definitely worth taking a look. It might not work out sometimes, but the least we can do is try.

@Julie Kern Congratulations on your portfolio! I'd love to get to that number fairly soon!

@Julie Kern we've had to fight a court case to keep running Airbnb. Indy was planning to close on airbnb rentals thanks to a strong hotel lobby. There were instances of certain towns/school districts banning airbnb listings for some really silly reasons. Either way, I would recommend checking with the local county office if there are any bans imposed for your neighborhood. If you're planning to try it out, you'll have an upfront cost to furnish the place, but if it doesn't workout for whatever reason, you can turn it into a long term- furnished rental as an exit strategy. I'd be cautious and research extensively before buying someplace exclusively for airbnb.

There's always an element of safety concern. Since I do it on my primary residence, my presence in the house sometimes helps. I can react quicker if something were to happen. But it can also be argues otherwise, more danger if you're present etc.  There are a few Airbnb property management firms that take care of managing the listings. You could look into that as well.

@Carlos Guerrero I just got done listening to that podcast. That's pretty much my thought process! I thought I'd give it a try on my primary residence first, a couple of years ago, before I go out buying other places. Thank you for the recommendation!

@Vanesa Gonzalez you're in a prime location to do Airbnb. You'll be surprised at how quickly you accumulate cash and re-invest it. Good luck and keep me posted on how it goes!

@Megan Swanson I'll be glad to share my experience. It's not professional advice and I'd recommend your CPA to look into your financial situation. But feel free to PM me. I'd say the tax benefits are plenty and aren't difficult, so you should take a stab at hosting! 

@Carlos Guerrero thanks man! Will check it out

Will do, @Melissa Gittens! 

Thank you @Mayank S. !